Social Networks of West African Forced Migrants

描述（由申请人提供）：本R15提案的目的是（1）将社会网络分析（SNA）引入被迫移民的研究，（2）将被迫移民的网络与文化上可比较的自愿移民网络进行比较，以及（3）测量这些网络对生物行为结果（心理困扰和心血管测量）的结构影响。尽管对被迫移徙人口（难民、寻求庇护者）进行了30年的研究，确定他们的特点是创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）、抑郁症和与创伤有关的身体疾病的发病率高，而且这些健康问题与创伤暴露率高有关3，但健康结果的巨大差异仍然无法解释。我们认为，这种无法解释的变化最好是由社会生态破坏，发生在displacement 5。个人社会生态的核心是他们的社交网络。社交网络与本地出生人口的多种健康结果有关12，对于移民人口寻求帮助尤其重要19 -22。我们认为，社交网络在被迫移徙期间受到损害，这种损害对被迫移徙者的身心健康产生了可衡量的影响，这种影响超出了仅仅遭受创伤的影响。为了在一个有意义的背景下恰当地描述被迫移民的网络，我们必须将他们的网络与同样移民并具有类似社会行为模式的个人网络进行比较。因此，我们建议研究被迫移民的社交网络，将其与一个单一的西非移民社区-富拉尼人-内的自愿移民网络进行比较。纽约市的富拉尼族裔社区的特点是，有大量被迫和自愿移徙者，他们来自西非各国，而西非是一个最近发生广泛政治冲突和向外移徙的地区。我们对富拉尼人和纽约其他西非社区的初步研究表明，与许多新移民一样，富拉尼社区的个人和家庭在寻求帮助时更多地依赖社交网络，而不是官方的公共卫生来源，被迫移民依赖的机构数量少于自愿移民。这里提出的研究是基础性的，因为它的目的是建立一个知识基础，在此基础上可以建立干预研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this R15 proposal is to (1) introduce social network analysis (SNA) into the study of forced migrants, (2) compare forced migrants' networks to culturally comparable voluntary migrants' networks, and (3) measure structural effects of these networks on biobehavioral outcomes (psychological distress and cardiovascular measures). Although 30 years of research on forced migrant populations (refugees, asylum seekers) has established that they are characterized by high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and trauma-related physical ailments and that these health problems are associated with high rates of exposure to trauma3, considerable variance in health outcomes remains unexplained. We propose that much of this unexplained variance is best accounted for by the social ecological damage that occurs during displacement5. Central to individuals' social ecologies are their social networks. Social networks have been linked to multiple health outcomes among native-born populations12, and are particularly important for help seeking among immigrant populations19-22. We propose that social networks are damaged during forced migration and that this damage has measureable effects on forced migrants' mental and physical well-being that goes beyond the effects of exposure to trauma alone. In order to appropriately describe forced migrants' networks within a meaningful context, we must compare their networks to networks of individuals who have also immigrated and have similar patterns of social behavior. We therefore propose to study the social networks of forced migrants by comparing them to networks of voluntary migrants within a single West African immigrant community - the Fulani. The Fulani ethnic community in New York City is characterized by substantial numbers of both forced and voluntary migrants, and hails from countries across West Africa, a region with a recent history of widespread political conflict and outmigration. Our preliminary studies with Fulani and other West African communities in New York has established that, like many new migrants, individuals and families within the Fulani community rely on social networks much more than on official public health sources when seeking help, and that forced migrants rely on a smaller number of institutions than voluntary migrants to support their families' needs. The research proposed here is foundational in that its purpose is to establish a base of knowledge upon which intervention research can be built.